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He was the first newcomer to arrive on campus this offseason, and Deng Adel was making the kind of progress that had his teammates, coaches and even former players excited about his potential as a freshman wing at Louisville.

In August, the 6-foot-7 Adel was poised and confident during his team's week-long exhibition series in Puerto Rico, averaging 7.5 points and 3.7 rebounds in six games against the Puerto Rican junior and senior national teams.

In November, he started Louisville's first two games at small forward. But a knee sprain and a month-long rehabilitation process have set the young Adel back, and he has struggled in his first few games since returning. Still, coach Rick Pitino isn't concerned about the former five-star prospect.

"Deng, right now, you can see it he’s a little nervous he hasn’t played, but he’s going to be fine," Pitino said Wednesday. "He’ll get over that nervousness and he’ll be a good player as well."

Adel had two nice moves to the basket at NC State, but he looked uncomfortable against Clemson and Pittsburgh. In Wednesday's game against FSU, Adel came in and committed two turnovers he wouldn't normally commit. He threw the ball right into the hands of a defender on one play, and just had it taken away from him on another.

Pitino said Adel, who was born in the Sudan and grew up in Australia, will work his way back into the regular rotation as he regains his confidence. His knee is fine at this point, though it required a few games to shake off some potential back-of-the-mind worries about re-injuring it.

He's just got to figure out a way to tap back into what he does best. Pitino and Adel's teammates say he is the best on-ball defender on the team -- and the Cards' strongest player. Adding that kind of player to the mix could be a big boost for Louisville as the ACC schedule gets tougher and tougher.

In the meantime, Pitino said Adel's attitude is helping him through a tough stretch.

"I think an American player would say look, 'I need to get my minutes,' and everybody around him would be telling him, 'You need to get your minutes,'" Pitino said. "Deng sees he’s not playing real well right now and he sees Damion (Lee), so he’s just trying to learn.

"I texted him the other night on the way home and said, 'Listen, son, don’t get discouraged, don’t get down about your minutes.' He immediately texted me back and said, 'Coach, we won the game, I’m not even concerned about that.' I don’t think too many American-born players would have that type of response, but he did."